Blue and White Striped Porcelain
by Deanna-Jade
Summary: Five times Jack's blue and white stripy mug had something different in it, and one time it didn't.
1. Coffee

**Blue and White Striped Porcelain**

**-_Five times Jack's blue and white stripy mug had something different in it, and One time it didn't._**

**Spoilers for Children of Earth at the end. Heavy spoilers actually.  
Suggestions of a sexual nature. **

Coffee. 

Jack was up late. Not by choice, he only ever chose to stay up this late if Ianto and himself were 'entertaining' themselves. This brought a smile to his face. It quickly disappeared however when he lowered his eyes and saw the vast mountain of paperwork. The paperwork that Ianto had given him with a stern: "Do it Jack. Or you get decaf. Or no sex. I've not yet decided." Jack couldn't quite decide which punishment was the worst. Though, looking down out the window to where Ianto was leaning over his desk clearing up and displaying that marvellous rear end of his, Jack thought that he may have to say that a sex ban would be the worst of the two. But still, decaf coffee – nobody wants that.

Just as Jack put his pen to the paper and signed what felt like the 100th report, his phone beeped; succeeding in once again, distracting him from what he was supposed to be doing. He sighed, and reached into his pocket, drawing out his phone and quickly scanning the text, which he realised (with a grin) was from Ianto. '_Jack – don't forget you've still got that conference call with UNIT. Martha should be there so don't be too grumpy with them?' _Jack looked down towards the ground floor of the hub, and saw Ianto standing, looking up to him with his puppy dog expression which Jack could never resist.

He sighed again, this time more audible and exasperated than before. Picking up the phone on his desk, he dialled UNIT's main base and waited for them to answer. He didn't like UNIT. Never had and never will. Martha made it slightly better, but still, he'd rather not deal with them at all. Tapping his foot to some unknown beat inside his head, he allowed his eyes to wander around his office as boredom took hold. He'd give them another few minutes, then he was hanging up. Wouldn't be his fault then. Ianto couldn't complain either. Jack checked his watch. Five minutes gone.

Just then, two short knocks brought him out of his reverie. He looked to his door, even though he already knew exactly who it was, being the only other person in the hub at this moment in time. He fixed a slightly lecherous grin onto his face as Ianto walked casually into the office, his hands folded behind his back.

"Yes Ianto?"

"Don't bother hanging up Jack – they'll answer soon enough. And my threat still stands."

"Fine." Jack sighed, "Is that all you cam up here for?" He continued, punctuating is question with a raise of his eyebrows.

"No. I've brought you a coffee. Thought you might be wanting one by now." Ianto placed the blue and white stripy mug on Jack's desk, smiled and then backed out of the office.

Jack picked up the mug of coffee and inhaled the aroma. It was, as usual, delicious. Raising his mug in a silent toast to Ianto, Jack was in a much better mood once UNIT finally answered the phone.


	2. Hot Chocolate

**AN: **I just realised that on the last chapter I said "spoilers to Children of Earth at the end". I mean at the end of the story as a whole, not that chapter. Silly mistake :)

_But how good am I to all of you's? Two chapters in one night ! Count yourselves lucky ;) _

Hot Chocolate.

It was early in the morning. Very early in the morning. Ianto knew this because Jack had woken him from his albeit light sleep for the seventh time that night. He rolled over to face Jack who was sitting up in the bed, a sheepish grin on his face as he stared down at Ianto.

"Sorry Yan, did I wake you again?"

"Shockingly enough Jack, yes. Would you please go to sleep? For the sake of my sanity?" Ianto rolled back over, determined to ignore the trembling lower lip of Jack's. It had been a long and difficult day at the hub with seven rift alerts and three Weevil sightings. Everyone had been sent home disgruntled and muttering, but Jack had insisted that Ianto stay the night. This was how Ianto came to be in Jack's hole of a bedroom, too hot due to Jack's overwhelming body and unable to stay asleep for very long.

"Yan... I can't sleep."

"I'm aware of that Jack, you've told me eighteen times. Can't you go for a walk around the hub or something?"

"Sorry Ianto. I am tired. I just can't sleep. Can you talk to me for a bit, 'till I do?"

"Jack, I really am too tired to function here." Ianto muttered, his voice slurring slightly due to his exhaustion.

"Oh." Jack lay back down again, looking at the ceiling, trying to make imaginary patterns. He turned over and looked at Ianto's sleeping profile. This brought a smile to his face as he realised Ianto had definitely fallen asleep again. He reached out a finger, with the intent of tracing the flat smooth plains of Ianto's face – something he sometimes did when Ianto was asleep and dead to the world.

"Don't even think about it Jack." Ianto's voice was surprisingly loud and clear, and made Jack jump a little in the confined spaces of the bed. Jack sighed, loudly, and turned over so that he was facing the wall. He frowned as his legs started to cramp up. He really ought to get a bigger bed he thought to himself as he began kicking his legs around, trying to find a position that was slightly more comfortable than his current one.

After a couple of minutes in yet another position, Jack had an epiphany. He usually slept curled around Ianto, falling asleep with his head on the younger man's chest. Maybe this was why he couldn't get to sleep. He shuffled closer minutely.

"No Jack."

"But Ianto, I can't sleep!" Jack cried, finally losing his patience.

It seemed as though Ianto had too.

"So have I Jack!" And with that, Ianto threw back his covers and stormed up the ladders to Jack office, not even bothering to put on a pair of sweatpants as he normally had to. Even in his sleep deprived state, Jack had to admire the boxer clad ass.

With a grin, Jack bounded out of bed and followed Ianto, intrigued as to what the crazy Welshman would do now. He followed him all the way to the kitchen, where Ianto was stood facing the open doorway, proffering Jack's mug towards him.

"Drink it and shut up."

"What is it?"

"Hot chocolate. Don't come back down until you will fall asleep. Otherwise I'll kill you numerous times."

Jack didn't doubt this threat in the slightest, so complied and sat down on the cold kitchen floor, cross legged and drank his 'hot choccie.'


	3. Cup  a  Soup

**AN: **Sorry I've taken so long to update, I've been really busy what with work and college :(

This chapter sort of got away with itself, and ended up being a lot longer than what I had originally planned, but never mind eh? :)

Cup – a – Soup

A groan sounded, loud, drawn out and completely self – pitying, it was enough to make the rest of the team down in the lower level of the hub groan along with it.

"Ianto, how much longer is this going to last?" Owen exclaimed loudly, banging his scalpels down onto the autopsy table where an odd looking alien currently resided, and began to make his way up the stairs to the rest of the team.

"Yes Owen, because I really know how much longer Jack's going to keep this up for." Ianto said, his face perfectly straight.

"Enough with the sarcasm tea boy. How much longer? Estimate."

"Thought you were supposed to be the medic," Ianto raised his eyebrow at Owen, "I don't know. I didn't even think Jack could get ill. He seemed to be labouring under the impression that he couldn't. But no, apparently, even the great captain Jack Harkness isn't immune to the common cold." Ianto trailed off and sighed, returning his attention to the numerous mugs he was busying himself with.

"Is that all he's got – a cold?" Owen sniggered, torn between incredulity and hilarity.

"Owen, are you forgetting the misery you put all of us through the last time _you _'just had a cold'?" Ianto glared at Owen, daring him to try and contradict. Owen looked down, then sauntered back to the autopsy bay to cut up some more alien, refusing to drop his attitude or admit defeat.

The tension was then effectively broken by another loud groan that resulted in all the team burying their faces in their hands. Jack had been like this for the past week, and it wasn't only him suffering – the others had endured every sneeze, moan and sniffle along with him, he had made sure of that.

"Ianto..." Jack's voice rang out, sounding thickened and somewhat marred, quietly echoing throughout the hub before it was broken off by a loud sneeze. Ianto sighed and collected an armful of paperwork and a box of Kleenex before traipsing up the stairs to Jack's office, his body slumped over in a most unusual posture.

He didn't bother knocking on Jack's office door as he normally would've done, just walked in, and shook his head at the sight that greeted him. Jack was slumped in his chair, limbs askew, eyes bleary and his air was plastered to his head with sweat. Jack looked up as Ianto approached, sniffling dejectedly.

"Yan, I'm ill."

"I know cariad, but it's just a cold, it'll pass in a few days. Then you'll be back to saving the world." Ianto smiled as he sat on the edge of Jack's desk, kissing him on the forehead and handing him a tissue. He then picked up the stack of papers, and began scanning through them, occasionally handing one to Jack every now and again to sign. They continued like this for a few minutes, until Ianto looked up to see Jack hunched in on himself, knees drawn up to his chest, shivering violently. Ianto put a hand briefly on Jack's shoulder, then silently moved and went down into Jack's bedroom. He re-emerged seconds later dragging a large, fluffy duvet behind him. The duvet was then dumped unceremoniously onto the sofa as Ianto crossed the office to where Jack was still slumped over his desk.

"Come on Mister Grumpy pants." Ianto teased, pulling Jack up gently by the hands and leading him towards the sofa, "Time for a little nap."

Ianto smiled as Jack obligingly lay down, then proceeded to strip off Jack's shirt and trousers, leaving him in just his under shirt and briefs, before covering the older man and tucking him into the duvet, and then resuming his place at the desk to continue with the paperwork.

Jack slept soundly, and only awakened four hours later when the rest of the team were leaving, causing the hub's siren to sound. He sat up slowly, grimacing as his muscles stretched and his joints cracked, stiff from sleeping on the sofa.

Almost as though Ianto knew that Jack would be awake now (and Jack suspected Ianto actually _did _know), Ianto appeared in the doorway, holding Jack's mug in his hand. He smiled when he saw Jack was awake and sat on the end of the sofa by Jack's feet, handing him the mug as he did so. Jack sniffed at the mug then pulled a face.

"Ianto, what is this?" Jack asked, sounding faintly disgusted.

"It's a cup a soup Jack. Chicken flavoured. Commonly used for people with a cold." Ianto smiled, "drink it Jack, trust me. It works."

Jack just smiled back at Ianto, burrowing into the duvet and sipping at the chicken soup, which he found surprisingly enjoyable. Although he thought, that may have been due to Ianto giving hima foot massage at the same time.


	4. Water

**AN: **Don't really know whether or not I like this one, it just sort of happened :/ Oh well. Review pretty please :)

Also, on a completely unrelated topic, just watched John Barrowman performing Anything You Can Do with Ruthie Henshall (again.) If you get chance, watch it - it's actually hilarious.

**Water**

Ianto awoke to a cold empty bed. He wasn't surprised really, Jack hardly ever slept in late. And it was late – for the Torchwood team anyway. What did surprise Ianto however was the fact that he couldn't hear Jack pottering about the flat and rooting through Ianto's possessions as he normally would've done. _Whatever_, Ianto thought, _he's probably just crashed on the sofa, or watching the news or something. _

It was the morning after Jack had given Jasmine up to the fairies, and the rest of the team were still refusing to speak to Jack, so he had simply told them to take the day off, and he'd call them if there was an emergency. They had walked off without a backwards glance,also ignoring Ianto because he hadn't spoken against Jack, just remained silently by his side. Jack had then drove to Ianto's walking through the doors in the early hours of the morning. Ianto had pulled him in and allowed the older man to collapse in tears, holding Ianto in a bone crushing embrace as the grief took hold. Ianto had just stood and let Jack cry, rubbing soothing patterns into his back as the sobs slowly subsided, whereupon they retired to bed, worn out from all that had happened.

Yawning and stretching, Ianto clambered out of bed with none of the usual natural grace he seemed to possess. Ianto was never coordinated in the morning – he needed at least twenty minutes, plus a shower and a mug of caffeine before he could become his usual self. He smiled to himself as he realised that besides family, Jack was the only person who knew this.

Ianto decided that it would be best to let Jack have another half hour of alone time before making him face the world again, so pulled on a pair of sweatpants and trudged into the kitchen, dragging his feet, and switching on the coffee machine as he passed it. Realising that he'd be in for a long wait for coffee due to the lack of fresh beans in his machine, he figured he may as well take a shower and then get Jack ready so that they could go shopping. Ianto conveniently forgot how much he hated going shopping with Jack.

The shower awakened Ianto, the soapy jets of water hitting his skin, which felt hyper sensitive, rivulets of water ran down the small of his back, caressing each pore they hit and rejuvenating his senses. At least, that's what the shower gel said it would do. _Seemed to be doing a good enough job_, Ianto thought wryly as he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a large towel tightly around his waist as he did so.

The icy cold air hit him full force as he walked through the apartment, so he dressed quickly in his casual clothes: snugly fitting jeans, and a white shirt open over a band tee. He was glad no-one other than Jack would ever see him like this – they wouldn't take him seriously ever again. He wandered out of his bedroom after checking his reflection, briefly wondering about getting a haircut. _Or maybe letting it grow... _

His trail of thought was abruptly halted at the sight of jack lying crumpled on the floor, apparently having fallen off of the sofa. Ianto quickly scanned his surroundings, taking in the numerous bottles of liquor, and the tumbler that had fallen from Jack's hand and rolled away.

Ianto took all of this in and sighed. He knew Jack had been upset about losing Jasmine, but did he really need to drink himself into a coma? Ianto felt at Jack's neck for a pulse, which he felt was quickening underneath his touch. This was good, it meant that Jack's body was repairing – he'd gain consciousness soon.

Trying to pass the time, Ianto tidied around Jack, clearing away all evidence of what Jack had reduced himself to; bottle after bottle got thrown away, and Ianto found himself marvelling at Jack's drinking abilities. Although they'd clearly failed him this time.

Ianto went into the kitchen, and returned carrying Jack's mug, which was now cool with condensation. He placed it onto the table then picked Jack up, laying him out on the sofa with his head in Ianto's lap.

Placing the telly on mute, Ianto stared at the screen, seeing colours and shapes rather than the actual picture as he ran his hands through Jack's hair, waiting for the older man to wake. After what seemed like eons of time, Ianto felt the shudders run through Jack that meant he was coming back. With the usual loud gasp, Jack convulsed in on himself, as he was brought back to the land of the land of the living.

"Shh..." Ianto soothed Jack, muttering in Welsh. Rocking him back and forth as Jack's awareness increased. Jack sat up, placing a chaste kiss to Ianto's cheek before leaning against him. He pointed to the mug:

"What's this, Yan?"

"It's just water Jack. You'll be dehydrated after all that alcohol, and, we're out of coffee. Looks like we'll be going shopping." Ianto sighed, the memory of the last shopping trip still giving him nightmares.

Jack sipped at the water, which was ice cold and welcoming to his dried out throat. He smiled at Ianto, somehow, this man knew exactly what Jack needed and when he needed it, knew how to make Jack feel better without meaning to – knew how Jack felt about him without needing the words to be said.

Jack grinned at Ianto -

"Does, this mean I get to come shopping with you again?"

Ianto just rolled his eyes.


	5. Frappe

**AN: **Sorry it's taken so long, been a busy time :) Enjoy, x

**Part 5**

**Frappé**

Cardiff was in the middle of a heatwave. It was blindingly hot and had been for days. The city had retired indoors, windows thrown open in the hope of catching a non-existent breeze. Even the Weevils weren't venturing up out of the sewers.

The Torchwood team were sweating out the long wait in the confines of the hub, with the hope that the underground workstations would provide them with a cool sanctuary. As of yet, this theory remained untrue.

Tosh was at her work station, hurriedly typing away at some new programme she was in the middle of perfecting. The only difference between this and Tosh on a normal day was the fact she had to keep stopping in order to blot at her damp forehead with a tissue that was getting increasingly soaked.

Gwen had given up on pretending to work, and was instead sprawled out in her chair, fanning herself with one magazine whilst simultaneously reading another. She was dressed in her usual ensemble of dark clothes, but at some point in the day had stripped down to a vest and tied her hair up into a loose knot at the base of her neck, with her fringe plastered to her face.

Owen, in his current undead state, was the only one in the hub unaffected. He couldn't feel heat, or cold for that matter, so had simply sauntered into the hub as he normally did, and resumed his previous days work of playing War Hammer. His philosophy was: if nobody else was working, why should he be?

Jack had locked himself in his office with numerous electric fans recovered from the archives, courtesy of Ianto. So far they were succeeding only in circulating hot air around the room. He surveyed his surroundings, grinning at the bedraggled appearance of his team, despite the fact that he too was looking less than his usual perfection. His braces were unattached to anything, and had been dropped down to his sides, his dark blue shirt was hanging open over his white under shirt. His hair was darkened with sweat, but as of yet, was still defying gravity.

A frown creased Jack's forehead as he realised he hadn't see Ianto anywhere in the main area of the hub. He quickly pulled up the CCTV on his computer, checking that Ianto hadn't collapsed from heat exhaustion somewhere in the hub. Ianto had turned up to work in his usual three piece suit, and Jack figured he must have been close to overheating after being in the heat dressed like that for over four hours.

Giving up on CCTV, Jack strolled out of his office, hands deep in his pockets as he crossed the hub towards Tosh's workstation. He was momentarily distracted however by the satisfaction he felt when he saw Gwen and Tosh's eyes pop and jaws drop slightly. A smirk crossed his face and he stretched lazily, exposing the flat, smooth planes of his stomach, revelling in the fact that Gwen and Tosh remained speechless.

"Tosh, can you find Ianto anywhere?"

"No need Jack," Tosh muttered, turning away from him with a frown, "he said he'd be back up in a few minutes."

"Well, where did he go?"

"Archives." Tosh replied, with the air of explaining something painfully obvious to a two year old. Jack remained unsatisfied.

"But why?"

"I think he said something about a change of clothes..." Tosh trailed off, not paying attention any more.

"Oh." Jack's mouth snapped audibly shut, and his head dipped down as he subconsciously adapted to his signature 'thinking' stance.

"Don't even think about it Jack," Gwen interjected, "Ianto told us to tell you to stay away. He said you'd know the consequences." Gwen smiled, though she had no clue what Ianto had meant by that last part.

"Damn that man!" Jack growled, though a wide grin had crept onto his face, "Another ban, really?"

Owen snorted at this, the noise making the other three turn towards him, expectant expressions on their faces as they waited for him to recover from his sniggers.

"He puts you on a sex ban? Really? This is brilliant!" He gleefully crowed, his face lit up with a manic delight. Jack just glared at him, before smiling evilly and throwing a book at him, with wicked aim. Owen ducked and swore, before lobbing some unidentified medical instrument back in the general direction of Jack.

"Tell him to come up to my office once he re-emerges." Jack said to nobody in particular, and made his way back up to his office, smiling to himself at some unknown memory that had surfaced in his mind.

Another fifteen minutes passed before Ianto returned, and this time, Tosh and Gwen's jaws did drop. Ianto was wearing a tight white tee shirt and a pair of denim cut off's that were loosely fitted, but still managed to cling to him in all the right places. Tosh and Gwen stared for a few moments as Ianto ran his hand ruefully through his hair, before Tosh managed to choke out:

"Jack wants you. In his office. I mean, well, you know. Oh, just go to him."

"He can wait." Ianto smiled, picking up Tosh's mug and walking into the kitchen.

Jack watched as Ianto went into the kitchen and disappeared from sight for a few minutes, then came back out, carrying a tray laden with mugs. He watched as Ianto handed Tosh and Gwen their drinks, chatting to them about things that Jack couldn't hear, and probably didn't want to anyway. He watched as Ianto put down the tray, picked up the last mug, said something that made Owen laugh and walked towards the stairs that led to Jack's office.

Jack settled himself into his chair behind his desk, with is feet propped up on the surface of the desk, and his hands behind his head. When Ianto knocked unnecessarily on the door and walked in, Jack's face lit up with a genuine smile. This soon turned into more of a predatory leer once he realised what Ianto had changed into. His eyes roamed slowly over Ianto, taking in every line of his body.

"Now that's a sight I could get used to." Jack remarked with a low whistle. Ianto rolled his eyes,

"You've seen me in casual clothes before Jack. The hub just got too hot for me to be wearing a suit and working."

"Still looks to be pretty hot from where I'm sitting." Jack grinned, and invited Ianto to sit down by gesturing with his hand towards the empty seat on the other side of the desk.

Ianto stuck his tongue out at Jack and sat down, handing Jack the mug at the same time, all the while managing to retain the grace and dignity he seemed to naturally posses, despite his rough appearance.

"Ianto... why is my coffee cold?" Jack asked with a slight pout, after gulping down a large mouthful in his usual manner.

"Because it's not technically a coffee Jack. It's a frappé."

"Which roughly means..?"

"A blend of ice and coffee. Perfect in summer for coffee lovers who still need caffeine but not heat."

"Well, it is really good. You made these yourself?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I just had to bring in a blender. Couldn't find one here yesterday."

"Hmm." Jack drank more eagerly, enjoying the fact that it was a 'refreshing coffee'. _Maybe heat waves aren't so bad after all_ he thought to himself, allowing his eyes to once more linger on Ianto's perfectly accentuated chest from over the top of the mug. _Nope, definitely not bad at all. _


	6. Nothing is Ever Truly Empty

**AN: I know that this has taken me a ludicrous amount of time to finish. Real life was just shit for a while. But now I'm back on track. This is now finished, and I've got more stuff in progress. **

_**Spoilers: Children of Earth. **_

**Part 6 – Nothing is Ever Truly Empty**

Captain Jack Harkness was stood on a lonely hilltop. He had been far beyond the reaches of Earth, far beyond the reaches of that galaxy even. He'd left that behind him, many hundreds of years ago, and had never intended to return. Never wanted to look back – never wanted to see the destruction he inevitably left in his wake.

But now he had returned. It had been exactly 1000 years, and he wanted to show that he had at least kept one promise he had made over his expansive life time.

"_Don't forget me." The look on the welsh man's face as he said it was heartbreaking. _

"_Never could." No need to worry about that.  
_

"_A thousand years time – you won't remember me." He actually believed that, actually thought I won't remember him. Even dying, in my arms, even now – he's still unsure of the love we share._

"_Yes I will. I promise, I will." I'm keeping that promise. A thousand years time. And so much more. _

Jack smiled sadly as he remembered the look in Ianto's eyes during that final conversation. So young, and so, so scared. It had been a thousand years and Jack had returned to Cardiff – to Ianto's home town, trying to see if he could finally gain some peace. He felt tired, he's been running for far too long. Now it was time to carry on, carry on saving the world.

But how could he do that? How could he fix the world when inside he was still broken? But he was mending, slowly. He still loved Ianto, still loved him with a passion that would freeze hell itself over, burst open the heavens and still be there after all that. He would never stop loving Ianto either. Ianto had been the one person to truly show him the wonders of the universe, he had shown Jack what to appreciate in life, how the simple, burning love of one person could make every day seem that little brighter, make every moon that little fuller, each star that little bigger. Yes, he still loved Ianto, but he had moved on. But each new lover never lasted long, there was always something in them that sent memories crashing back to the surface. The way one stroked his spine slowly, tantalisingly with their lips, the way one bit down on his hips, the way one opened their blue, blue eyes and smiled first thing in the morning.

He remembered the funeral. The way everybody had been so calm, so collected. Apparently it was something that ran in the family then. He remembered how he had been scared at first, refused to go, didn't want to see the coffin lowered into the ground, didn't want to see that final thing. He hadn't wanted to see Ianto's family, hadn't wanted to meet their accusing stares, their saddened eyes. But he had gone, and everything he feared had turned out to be untrue. Ianto's sister, Rhiannon had spotted Jack first, before anybody else did. She's walked slowly over to him, as though half expecting him to turn tail and run. Jack had still been expecting himself to do the same thing. As she approached Jack had braced himself, expecting her fists to rain down on him fast and furious, but they never did. Instead she collapsed onto Jack, and he brought his arms round her waist protectively as she cried into the collar of his greatcoat. When she was finally composed enough to speak, the only thing she ever said to Jack, during that whole day, the only sentence she had spoken was:

"I don't blame you, but I do forgive you." And it had nearly torn Jack apart.

Now, as he walked to the spot to where Ianto was buried, Jack found himself finally at peace. The headstone was still there. Jack had made sure of that – using some alien metal that was guaranteed to last for near to eternity. As long as it was still there when Jack finally died, he didn't mind. He just never wanted to see it crumble away. But as the sun shone down onto him, and the birds sang, he reminded himself that life did go on.

He sat down at the grass, cross legged, and smiled, as he remembered how Ianto had hated that. Said it made Jack look immature. Jack had always retorted by telling Ianto that he preferred to act his shoe size, not his actual age. He remembered all the other things that Ianto had been annoyed by: Starbucks coffee, Costa coffee, instant coffee. Bacon where the fat wasn't crispy, sausages that were undercooked, beans cooked in a microwave. Just little everyday things. Then there were the things hat Ianto had really, seriously disliked: drunk old men, people who looked at homeless people like they were nothing, bad manners, bad humour, people being distasteful. But Ianto had told Jack the one thing he truly hated, and that was watching Jack die, watching Jack get killed, watching Jack kill himself, and never knowing whether his luck had ran out, never knowing if he would come back.

Jack remembered the things Ianto had loved: Cheese on toast, coffee, the smell of laundry straight from the dryer, the sun rise and the sun set, laying down on grass and reading, watching pointless reality TV, watching comedy quiz shows, the way Jack would hold him close in bed, the way Jack used his pheromones to get what he wanted, the way he could use coffee to get Jack to do what he wanted, being able to wear casual clothes, walking on the beach. Just little things that everyone took for granted. Anyone who didn't work for Torchwood anyway.

Jack smiled, and reached into his bag. Even after all these years, after everything, the explosion, the mug had survived. Sure it was only half of a mug, just the handle, base and a little bit more, but it was _his mug. Ianto's mug. It had contained so many different things, each time filled by Ianto, filled with love and attention to detail. And now, even though there was nothing in it, and never would be, Jack felt as though it was full to him. _


End file.
